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| My attempt |
So like I have mentioned, I was in the school today, it was my first day! My class consists of 23 brown faces and 1 white one. They have all different backgrounds, Maori, Samoan, Tongan, India, Burundi, and more! It is so fun becuase each grade has a family name, our family name is KahuOh my goodness I can not even describe the overwhelming happiness I felt as I stepped into that classroom. I was so nervous at first because of the kids being 4th and 5th graders; I am used to the younger kids and being able to treat them like kids, but you can not do that with older kids, especially older kids that have intense family backgrounds and a background of behavioral problems, the entire school is like that (as i mentioned earlier, it has been compared to schools in the Bronx). But I immediately felt a part of the classroom, I didn't feel that way last semester until a couple weeks in. All the kids wanted to know everything about me, my family, my hobbies, and especially funny words I say, like garbage can or trunk. They all kept asking me to speak American, and were amazed when I told them it is the same as English. One little girl, Rose, even told me she could speak American and started to say words with an American accent. They are so sweet and mean well even if they are rough around the edges. I have already been told numerous times how pretty I am, and that I should teach at their school and never go back to the states! I think I just might consider that!
So there is this one boy in the class, Kahu, who is my new special project. He is the one that has had a reputation with other teachers as being the "bad kid." He knows he has that rep too so my associate teacher (the one over me) sat him down at the beginning and told him straight out that he had a rep and that she would start him off with a clean slate and not even take into account what the others have said. He was so amazed by that! So, this interested me and I took it upon myself to get to know him and see what I could do. He is my absolute favorite, we had a great conversation about sports and our families and I told him he needs to teach me rugby and i will teach him some fun games to play with a basketball. We then had a funny conversation with me trying to pronounces his name correctly! Ever since our little conversation, he has been trying to impress me with his swimming skills, typing skills, and behavior! I love him already, all he needs is some attention, attention he doesn't get at home.
I love my school more than anything! All the teachers are so welcoming and I feel like I work there, they don't make you feel like you are just a young visitor, they want you to come to staff meetings and be a part of everything! I got to go observe the swimming today, the kids love it and love that I came to watch. In the states, I feel that the teachers go off to lunch or just observe as the kids play, but I got asked numerous times to play the games with them at recess and I love it! As you can tell, I'm enjoying myself a bit too much and would love to teach at a school like my Ranui Elementary. The toughest part is getting their names down but amazingly, with it only being the first day, I know them all, with help from Patesa with pronunciation!! (i am not even going to attempt last names though!) Hopefully I wont forget by tomorrow. Just for fun, here are some names if you can pronounce them :)
Faaiu, Lavinia, Basile, Mariam, Shaheen,Ved, Latchmi, Mele, Sandouane, Bruwyn, Te Rehia, Kahu, Petesa, Perenencia, and more!
Oh and the best part is, they call me Whaea (pronounced like F-i-a with the i being long) Nicole! It is a term of respect, the majority of the teachers go by their first names with the term Whaea at the beginning, depending on their culture.
p.s. random pictures, have nothing to do with the post!
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| Tatiana's attempt. . .she totally out did me! |
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| Lucas didn't think we could catch him. . . |
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